Why do authors do this to me? I mean, I know why, but why?! I just finished this book and I loved it… and yet I want to throw it across the room at the same time. Now I have to wait five months before the next one comes out. FIVE MONTHS! Someone just kill me now.

And another thing… I can’t seem to write a summary of this book. Anything I write will potentially ruin things in the first book. So here’s what I can tell you:

Kael and Bree continue to be awesome and learn more about themselves. They kick some butts and engage in epic battles with death as their dance partner, but nothing will prepare them for what is to come as secrets are revealed and their worlds begin to come crashing down.

Well… that wasn’t one of my best summaries, but I managed not to give anything away, and that’s what matters.

Surprisingly, this is one of those rare occasions when the second book is better than the first. I’ve attempted to come up with a generalized reason for why so many sequels are worse than their predecessors, but there’s no simple answer (if there was it wouldn’t be an issue). I think it all comes down to balance between characters and plot. In Fireborn, David Dalglish moved both with precision and purpose, sweeping me along until the very end where he left me starving for more.

Dalglish also didn’t answer all of my questions. Any good author does the same thing because too much information takes away from the magic and mystery, but Dalglish used this as a tool to build suspense and tension both inside and outside of the story. In the first book he didn’t explain how the islands flew, where the elemental crystals came from, or much else for that matter. He introduced it, described it, and left us to enjoy it without revealing anything behind the curtain. Then in Fireborn he pulled back the curtain and revealed a depth to his world that floored me.

And then, as like so many before him, he ended his sequel at precisely the worst moment.

I’ve never read his other series, but if it’s as good as this one then I might have to. I would recommend Fireborn to anyone who enjoys fantasy adventure. This book reads like an intricate dance where Dalglish is balancing all the parts on the very edge, and the result is utterly amazing. You won’t want to miss out on this adventure.